1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a program executing system, a relay device, a manual controller, a recording medium, a program, and a program executing apparatus which are preferably applicable to an entertainment system such as a television game system or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Manual controllers that have heretofore been used with television game apparatus or the like have a control unit including direction buttons for indicating the directions in which to move a character in its entirety, i.e., four positive and negative directions along X- and Y-axes on the display screen of a television receiver, and control buttons for indicating movements of left and right arms and left and right legs of the character.
A manual controller with such a control unit with a plurality of buttons is connected to a television game apparatus, and sends control data of the control unit, indicative of whether the user has acted on any of the buttons or not, to the television game apparatus.
The television game apparatus has an image generator processor, and is connected to the television receiver that serves as a display monitor. Based on the content of control data sent from the manual controller, the image generator processor calculates and renders an image to be displayed in a next frame on the display screen of the television receiver.
The image calculated and rendered by the image generator processor is stored in a VRAM (video RAM). When a frame switching signal is generated based on a clock signal in the television game apparatus, the image stored in the VRAM is transferred from the television game apparatus as an NTSC television signal or the like and displayed on the display screen of the television receiver.
The television game apparatus performs a succession of processes (1)-(3), given below, in each frame, e.g., in {fraction (1/60)} second, as shown by an upper sequence 1 in FIG. 19 of the accompanying drawings, for thereby displaying images based on control actions on the manual controller on the display screen on a real-time basis.
(1) The television game apparatus communicates with the manual controller during a time ta.
(2) The television game apparatus calculates a game image depending on communications with the manual controller during a time tb.
(3) The television game apparatus stores the calculated game image in the VRAM during a time tc.
Recently, with the advent of more sophisticated and complicated games, there have been a demand for more control units on manual controllers and a demand for control units with an ability to produce analog outputs, i.e., multigradation outputs, depending on the pressing force on buttons, rather than an ability to produce simple on/off outputs, e.g., binary outputs.
To meet the above demands, it is necessary to increase the amount of data, e.g., the number of bytes of data, transmitted from the manual controller to the television game apparatus.
However, if the amount of data transmitted from the manual controller to the television game apparatus is increased, then the times required to perform the above processes (1) and (2) are increased, resulting in a delay in the process (3).
When the process (3) is delayed, the image may be displayed too late for the new frame subsequent to the given period, i.e., {fraction (1/60)} second as shown by a lower sequence 2 in FIG. 19, with the result that the displayed image on the television receiver tends to be disturbed or slowed down like a slow-motion image.
If the rate of communications between the television game apparatus and the manual controller is to be increased, then the manual controller needs to have a higher-speed microcomputer and a higher-speed clock generator, and hence becomes more expensive to manufacture.
Increasing the rate of communications between the television game apparatus and the manual controller poses other problems in that since noise and unwanted radiation rise, some measures are necessary to reduce such noise and unwanted radiation, requiring an additional cost to manufacture the manual controller and the television game apparatus.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a program executing system, a relay device, a manual controller, a recording medium, a program, and a program executing apparatus which do not increase the time required to perform communications between a manual controller and an apparatus to which the manual controller is connected, which meet a demand for more control units and a demand for control units with an ability to produce analog outputs depending on the pressing force on buttons, rather than an ability to produce simple on/off outputs, and which makes it possible to perform wireless communications between the manual controller and the apparatus to which the manual controller is connected.
According to an aspect of the present invention, a program executing system comprises a program executing apparatus for reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium, and a manual controller connected to the program executing apparatus and having a plurality of control units, for sending a control request from the user as control data to the program executing apparatus in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, the program executing apparatus having means for sending transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
With the above arrangement, when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program, the program executing apparatus sends transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller. Therefore, the amount of control data sent from the manual controller to the program executing apparatus can possibly be reduced when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
A relay device connected to the program executing apparatus for performing wireless communications between the program executing apparatus and the manual controller may be disposed between the program executing apparatus and the manual controller.
If the manual controller has a storage unit for storing the transmission definition indication data, then it is not necessary to send the transmission definition indication data from the program executing apparatus to the manual controller while the program is being executed unless the transmission definition indication data is changed.
If the program executing apparatus is to update or change the content of the transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, then updating transmission definition indication data may be sent to the manual controller to update the content of the transmission definition indication data when the program executing apparatus is executing the program.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a program executing system comprises a program executing apparatus for reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium, a relay device connected to the program executing apparatus and having a first wireless communication unit, and a manual controller having a plurality of control units and a second wireless communication unit for communicating with the first wireless communication unit, for sending a control request from the user as control data to the relay device in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, the program executing apparatus having means for sending transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller via the relay device, to the relay device when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
With the above arrangement, when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program, the program executing apparatus sends transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller via the relay device to the program executing apparatus, to the relay device. Therefore, the amount of control data sent from the manual controller via the relay device to the program executing apparatus can possibly be reduced when the program executing apparatus starts executing and/or is executing the program.
If the relay device has a storage unit for storing the transmission definition indication data, then it is not necessary to send the transmission definition indication data from the program executing apparatus to the relay device while the program is being executed unless the transmission definition indication data is changed.
If the program executing apparatus is to update or change the content of the transmission definition indication data defining a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller, then updating transmission definition indication data may be sent to the relay device to update or change the content of the transmission definition indication data when the program executing apparatus is executing the program.
The program executing apparatus may comprise an entertainment apparatus for reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium detachably loaded in the entertainment apparatus.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, a relay device is capable of performing wireless communications between a program executing apparatus and a manual controller, or is capable of performing wireless communications between a program executing apparatus and a manual controller, and processes wireless control data sent from the manual controller and sends the processed wireless control data to the program executing apparatus.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a manual controller having a plurality of control units, for sending control data in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, comprises control data transmission defining means for defining a type of the control data to be sent in response to an externally inputted instruction.
Since the manual controller has the control data transmission defining means for defining a type of the control data to be sent in response to an externally inputted instruction, the time during which the control data is outputted can possibly be reduced even if there are many types of control data.
If the manual controller has a storage unit for storing the type of the control data to be sent in response to the externally inputted instruction, then the control data transmission defining means may output control data based on the type of the control data stored in the storage unit.
If the manual controller is used in combination with a pin-compatible slave manual controller, then the storage unit may have means for storing a type of control data to be outputted from the slave manual controller when the manual controller is turned on. Consequently, the manual controller may be used instead of the slave manual controller.
According to yet still another aspect of the present invention, a recording medium stores a program comprising the steps of confirming an electric connection with a manual controller having a plurality of control units, for sending control data in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, and transmitting transmission definition indication data defining a type of the control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller.
When the program stored in the recording medium is executed by a program executing apparatus connected to the manual controller, it is possible for the program executing apparatus to define a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, a recording medium stores a program comprising the steps of confirming an electric connection with a manual controller having a plurality of control units, for sending control data in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, causing the manual controller to enter from a normal mode into a transmission definition indication mode for defining a type of the control data to be sent, transmitting transmission definition indication data defining a type of the control data to be sent to the manual controller, and causing the manual controller to enter the transmission definition indication mode into the normal mode.
With the above arrangement, when the above steps are carried out while the program is being executed, the definition of a type of the control data to be sent from the manual controller can be updated or changed while the program is being executed.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, a program comprises the steps of confirming an electric connection with a manual controller having a plurality rality of control units, for sending control data in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, and transmitting transmission definition indication data defining a type of the control data to be sent from the manual controller, to the manual controller.
When the above program is executed by a program executing apparatus connected to the manual controller, it is possible for the program executing apparatus to define a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller.
According to a yet still further aspect of the present invention, a program executing apparatus for being connected to a manual controller having a plurality of control units, for sending control data in response to operation by the user of at least one of the control units, and reading and executing a program stored in a recording medium, comprises transmission definition indication data sending means for sending transmission definition indication data defining a type of the control data to be sent from the manual controller to the program executing apparatus, to the manual controller, according to a content of the read program.
With the above arrangement, the transmission definition indication data sending means sends transmission definition indication data defining a type of the control data to be sent from the manual controller to the program executing apparatus, to the manual controller. As a result, it is possible for the program executing apparatus to define a type of control data to be sent from the manual controller.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.